Heteroscleromorpha is a
subclass of
demosponge
Demosponges or common sponges are sponges of the class Demospongiae (from + ), the most diverse group in the phylum Porifera which include greater than 90% of all extant sponges with nearly 8,800 species
A species () is often de ...
s within the
phylum
In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...
Porifera
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a Basal (phylogenetics) , basal clade and a sister taxon of the Eumetazoa , diploblasts. They are sessility (motility) , sessile ...
.
Heteroscleromorpha has the most taxa of the demosponge subclasses, with an estimated 7500 species.
References
Sponge subclasses
Taxa named by Nicole Boury-Esnault
{{Demosponge-stub